This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

B.C. teachers ratify six-year contract

B.C.'s public school teachers have ratified a hard-bargained six-year contract, ending a bitter months-long strike and allowing the start of the school year for half a million students.

▶

British Columbia's public school teachers have ratified a new six-year contract, ending a bitter three-month strike. The president of the B.C. Teachers' Federation says students will be back in school on Monday.(CP)

By The Canadian Press

Fri., Sept. 19, 2014

VANCOUVER - B.C.'s public school teachers have ratified a hard-bargained six-year contract, ending a bitter months-long strike and allowing the start of the school year for half a million students.

The president of the B.C. Teachers' Federation announced Thursday night that 27,275 members of the 31,741 who cast ballots, or 86 per cent, voted in favour of the agreement.

Jim Iker says the result means the strike and lockout are now over and teachers and students will be back in school on Monday.

The result is lower than the landslide support garnered in another provincewide vote last week to end the dispute with binding arbitration, reflecting discontent among teachers with the contracts' contents.

Article Continued Below

▶

B.C. Teachers' Federation President Jim Iker leaves a news conference in Vancouver on Tuesday. (JONATHAN HAYWARD / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The mood was bittersweet as union members cast ballots earlier in the day, with some teachers saying the deal didn't offer enough to compensate for the losses from job action or improve classroom conditions for children.

The collective agreement includes a 7.25 per cent salary increase, improvements in extended health benefits and the teaching-on-call rates, as well as a $400-million education fund to hire specialist teachers.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com